Method for straightening bowling alleys



Oct. 4, i949. c. o. HUGHES l METHOD 'FOR STRAIGHTENING BOWLING ALLEYSFiied Aug.- 3o, 1946 glneniur 3L/'Aa if O; Huw/Es.

Patented Oct. 4, 17949 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFfl-cs METHOD FORySTRAIGiH'HiNINGr BOWLING Y -ALLEYS v Charles 0. Hughes, Baltimore, Md.

Application August 30, 1946,V Serial No. .694,124

or more of the disadvantages and limitations of the prior art.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new andimproved method of reconstruction and repair of bowling alley iloorsthat will be economical and relatively expeditious to employ.

For a better understanding of thisinvention,

and other objects thereof, reference is made to the appended drawingsand `following description. wherein a particular form of the inventionoutlined by way of example, while the scope of the invention lisemphasized .in fthe claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is .apartial plan view of a bowling alley-embodying thisinvention,

Figure 2 is fa sectional view taken-along line 2--2 of :Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a sectional view similar to Figure .2 showing narrow templet`strips fitted to the 'contour oi the surface 4of the bowlingfalley,

Figure 4 is a sectional View taken `along .fline l-i of Figure l,showing the clamp positioned `in the alley oor at the .start of theraising operation, and

Figure 5 shows the bowling alley floor raised and supported on thenarrow `templet strip.

.Similar reference characters refer lto Vsimilar parts throughout thedrawings.

When the race of .the Vfloor ci :a Ybowling alley` becomes worn itscontour is that of :a concave gulley lil! which is usually termed abelly groove. In eliminating this gulley |52, the usual method is totear up the boards that compose the Yconventional maple looring L3 bycutting the same completely through about 3 inches behind' the foulline, yfollowed by the .removal 'of the ap-V proach. The removal .of theoriginallooring is a somewhat tedious job and 'generally nui-ns suchflooring for bowling purposes. with new ilo'oring `requires4considerabl'e nare and material. This .requires mitering of. the.ilooring A replacement 3 claims. (c1. 273-51) 'Whose underside is ilat.

. 2 and lappingor" the joint followed by sanding land general finishingwith the application of shellac or other suitable coating to completethe Work.

The :labor of tearing out of the original iiooring together, theiinancial loss during repairs, with the replacement costs of new.material make zsuoh projects very expensive, and raises the lquestionas to whether it is profitable or desirable to do itJ before a decisioncan Abe made determining whether todo or avoid the Work.

In the new method detailed in this `speclication, the original iiooringi3 of the alleyisfnot cut. However the -outer yedge boarding lo `on oneside of a gutter 3 is lifted up out of the way for about eight inches inwidth or about four boards to provide access underneath the alleyproper. Then .a series of narrow gulley members of Wood I4 are shavedoff on one face i5 to conform 'accurately with the face of the gulleyi2. These gulley members are termed wedges and their lengths areapproximately the same as the Width of ythe alley. The opposite face or"the Wedge is straight. rIhe alley is drilled with holes Ait located:between levelling strips I8 and along the lcenter line of the-alley.The alley iiooring is normally supported on levelling strips l runningtransversely under the alley and leaving spaces at intervals underneath.These spaces are accessible to .after the gutter boarding iii isremoved. The operator removes the strips of wood Iii from the gulley andfor the time being lays them aside. He then applies a through clampconsisting of channels t9 which are `long enough to span .the alley.These channels are spaced and arranged in pairs held together at theirends by plates il forming a central space through which a bolt 2| passesand threads into a rounded levelling knob 22 The bolt is provided with aball-bearing washer 23 which is held against upward movement by a pin 24inserted in the bolt 2i. The bolt is fitted with a ratchet handle 2E torotate the bolt 2| on a roller bearing l25 which eases the frictionbetween the roller bear-ing 25 and the washer 235. The bolt passesthrough the hold it in the alley floor, as indicated in Figure 4. Theknob 22 is then screwed on the end of the bolt and drawn upwardlyagainst the underside of the Valley flooring. This causes it to lbellyupwardly so the fiat underside of the alley is forced upwardly and bendsthe floor sufficiently to reverse .the position of the gulley from the`top to the bottom as shown in Figure 5. After which the curved Aface ofthe wedge vstrip l' is fitted into the Areversed igulley and made tocontact the underside .of the floor- 3 ing with the straight side of thewedge strip I 4 placed on the upper face of the levelling strip I8. Thebolt is reversed, to unscrew it and during its rotation it allows thealley flooring to rest closely on the wedge strip IG, and as a resultthe former belly groove will be transferred to the under surface, andthe bowling face of the alley will assume approximately a straightsurface. The holes IS are then plugged. The flooring I8 is then replacedand the alley is made ready for use.

The wedges are relatively cheap, as they are easy to make and apply.Their placement enables the original alley floor woodwork to be reusedwithout removal, and the system may be used on the same flooring manytimes to keep the face of the alley straight.

The amount of finishing required for bringing the raised originalsurfaces into service is relatively small, compared with that requiredif the gulley had to be eliminated and replaced by an entirely new floorwhich would have to be sanded to bring it back to proper level of thealley. Thirty hours are required for the conventional way of refinishingan alley whereas the method outlined in this invention requires onlyfour hours. It also saves considerably in the amount of the materialrequired.

This method of raising or jacking up the flooring of a bowling alley hasbeen found t be practical and effective. The apparent limited size ofthe knob 22 as compared with the width of the alley in the drawings, hasbeen found not to render it inoperative. The flooring of the alley, asconventionally made, permits the boards or pieces that are interlockedin it, having sufficient flexibility under the jack-like action of thebolt 2l and knob 22, to move together like an integral member until theyare brought to a halt by the fiat underside of the channels I9. Thecurved upper surface of the knob distributes the stresses over theunderside of the alley so the timber pieces I3 can adjust themselvesindividually to the movement when they are being jacked upwardly. Whenthe individual boards contact the channels they are stopped and made toalign themselves in a straight upper line surface. The tongue andgrooves of the boards suffer some distortion during the process but notenough to be materially harmful to the alley, and even if the flooringshould be injured silghtly and not produce an alley as perfect as theoriginal one, the fact that the wedge strips Ill support the flooring,keeps it in a practical condition that meets the requirements of thegame. In actual service, the

gulley formed from hard usage is not usually as great as that shown inthe drawings, so the stresses involved are not as great as the observermight first think. But there is a gulley and this has to be overcome orthe game played on the particular alley will be erratic andobjectionable. By the method described, the boards forming the alleyfloor can be raised and adjusted to present a straight upper surface andhave been found in actual instances to conform as described in thisapplication and to be satisfactory to use. Sometimes some of the boardsmay have their upper edges slightly out of alignment when the jacking uphas been completed. In such a case, the operator overcomes any ridgesexisting by planing and/or sanding them oil?. The holes I6 required forthe insertion and use of the bolts 26 are plugged up after the work ofjacking up and raising followed by the fitting and shoring. This is ofcourse done before the nal nish is put on the flooring.

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While but one general form of the invention is shown in the drawings anddescribed in the specification, it is not desired to limit thisapplication for patent to this particular form or in any other wayotherwise than limited by the scope of the claims, as it is appreciatedthat other forms of construction could be made that would use the sameprinciples and come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, Vwhat is claimed is:

1. A method for the repair of a gulleyed alley of a bowling structurehaving the boards of its flooring positioned on spaced levelling stripstransversely arranged thereunder to support it in a predetermined planeand having its upper surface level, including the removal of structureat the sides of the flooring to attain access to the said strips and theunderside of said boards, shaping gulley members to conform on one sideto the worn side of the bowling alley, then making a series of spacedholes along the approximate middle line of the alley, then placing clampbolts through said holes with levelling knob members screwable thereonfor engagement of a predetermined area on the underside of saidflooring, then placing cross members over the face of the flooring so asto span across same transversely, then placing washer elements on thebolts restricted from moving beyond a predetermined point thereon andarranged to brace against said cross members until the screwing of thebolts will clamp the ooring between said cross members and the levellingknob members and bring its boards up to the level of the bottom surfaceof said cross-members to eliminate the gulley, and the underside of theboards made to conform with the gulley contour in reverse, thenpositioning said gulley members against the gulley contour formed on theunderside of the ooring to support the boards when said gulley membersare placed on the levelling strips, and then finishing off said uppersurface of said boards until the surface is accurately aligned for usefor bowling.

2. A method for the repair of a gulleyed alley of a bowling structurehaving the boards of its flooring positioned on spaced levelling stripstransversely arranged thereunder to support it in a predetermined planeand having its upper surface level, including the removal of structureat the sides of the flooring to attain access to the said strips and theunderside of said boards, shaping gulley members to conform on one sideto the worn side of the bowling alley, then making a series of spacedholes along the approximate middle line of the alley, then placing clampbolts through said holes with levelling knob members screwable thereonfor engagement of a predetermined area on the underside of saidflooring, then placing cross members over the face of the flooring so asto span across same transversely, then placing washer elements on thebolts restricted from moving beyond a predetermined point thereon andarranged to brace against said cross members until the screwing of thebolts will clamp the flooring between said cross members and thelevelling knob members and bring its boards up to the level of thebottom surface of said cross-members to eliminate the gulley, and theunderside of the boards made to conform with the gulley contour inreverse, then positloning said gulley members against the gulley contourformed on the underside of the flooring to support the boards when saidgulley members alley consisting in placing a movable abutment below theoor of the alley, in providing a connection to the abutment extendingthrough and above the alley floor, in extending crosswise of the alleyoor a rest for the connection, and in using this rest to exert a pullingforce on the abutment through the connection to raise the licor to itsoriginal horizontal position.

CHARLES O. HUGHES.

No references cited.

